Meet Meri Wiley

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meri Wiley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Meri, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

Since I have been optimistic all my life, it’s hard to say where it comes from. This is not to say that my life has been particularly easy. I’ve faced a lot challenges, mentally, emotionally, and physically. I have had 25 operations, mostly on my legs, but also my back, my hands, and I had to have a full hysterectomy due to multiple tumors. I have been diagnosed with ADHD, PTSD, OCD, and manic depression. As you can imagine, I’m a different, sometimes difficult, person to be around. Having dealt with all these conditions for over 60 years, has impacted the way I live and deal with life. There was a time in my life when I’d had enough and decided there was no reason to stick around. Thankfully I got help and went through 2.5 years of psychotherapy. You might ask how I could possibly be optimistic, when in fact I think it’s plain old stubbornness. I now refuse to give up. I approach each day like it’s a “do over” from the day before. If I feel that I wasn’t particularly productive or that I “failed” to accomplish what was needed, I tell myself that I can readdress the issue the following day.

I decided late in life to open a business. I’ve always wanted my own business, and I was fortunate enough to find a location in downtown Mesa, Arizona to open an art gallery, sell art supplies, and have a large makerspace available to the general public. The response from the public has been especially enthusiastic, and I’m really excited for the growth potential. I’ve been “enabling/helping” others to be creative all my life, and to be able to do this on a larger scale, is pretty much all I could hope for.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Meri Wiley
Owner of “the cARTel” and “the cARTel at the OneOhOne” in downtown Mesa, Arizona
I am an artist, living in Gilbert, and looking to help make an impact on a larger scale than I currently do.
I am an award-winning doll maker and multi-media artist. I grew up with art in my life from the beginning with both parents being extremely talented.

For the past 22 years I’ve been hosting art events out of my home. In 2015 things took on a more serious and deeper meaning when my artist mother passed away. I had been her caretaker for about 6 years prior and it was one of the most challenging positions in my life. I’ve had many such challenges throughout my life, mostly medical and psychological, but caring for my mom was an extreme privilege.
I found myself at a shocking loss of what to do after she passed. On December 28, 2015, my younger sister and I started an art group called “the cARTel,” and we’ve been growing ever since.

We started the group through the platform of Meetup.com and now must move to a larger venue.

As of August 1, 2024 “the cARTel” will be in downtown Mesa at 101 W. Main St., Mesa, AZ 85201. This larger venue will allow us to accommodate more artists, and those just wanting to dabble in the arts. We will have special events, classes, gallery space for rent, retail art supplies, and access to many successful artists for inspiration and guidance. I will be looking for teachers with reasonably priced classes to give their classes in our large studio space.

There will also be over 2,200 square feet of gallery walls available for shows. Rent a wall for a specific time or rent the whole gallery for bigger shows. We have invested in an enhanced experience throughout with new paint, new gallery lighting, new creative space, and the new opportunity to purchase art supplies.

If you wish to explore your creative options the cost is $55 per month for full access during hours of business (Wednesday through Sunday, 9-5) or if you just want to stop by for a bit of creative play time you can pay $15.

My greatest hope is to enable people to return to their creative roots by encouraging them to play. If you return to your childhood creative mentality, then nothing is impossible. The cARTel is the embodiment of exploration and play in the realm of creativity.
Create with us!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Having managed restaurants for 25 years, working various other jobs since the age of 15, raising two children of my own, and a stepdaughter, married for 20 years and then divorced, remarried for over 20 years since, I have found a few qualities and skills that have kept me going over 64 years. They are:

1. Training and education in over 40 years of management.
2. Patience that has been learned the hard way.
3. The ability to let things go that serve no purpose other than to break you.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

Currently I am dealing with the results of years of hard work, labor, and abuse to my body and soul. Although the challenge of starting a business in my mid-sixties is a bit daunting, I am persevering.

Contact Info:

• Website: https//www.imagimeri.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecartel101/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564188749519
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meri-wiley-469176315/

Image Credits

“the cARTel at the OneOhOne”